at home with transition between wilderness and capitals

soothing sounds of customer dissatisfaction

This is not one of the more important things going on around here, but it was somewhat sad and amusing.

Earlier this month we ganged together an order for two small computer-related accessories – one for us and one for a friend. The items arrived and I put ours to use and passed along the other. Our friend discovered when they went to use it that their unit had been packaged so as to conceal a manufacturing fault. The plastic part looked as if it had been scuffed forcefully against a sharp metal edge, and I couldn’t tell if the damage was more than cosmetic. (There were even bits of mud on the opposite side, as if from the scuffer’s shoe.)

So I called the manufacturer (who will go unnamed), from whom we’d purchased directly. A very mellow guy answered and guided me through the return authorization process to the point where we were awaiting the ticket number.

I should mention I was multitasking a bit, supervising two kids at their homework, so my attention was somewhat divided. As I reengaged the phone call, I realized what I was hearing: snores. This continued for a long moment as I considered the reality and pondered how to respond. Finally, after several attempts to jump-start the conversation over about a minute, the agent resumed without any indication he was aware he’d been napping.

I’ve spent lots of hours on hold, receiving or offering technical support, or navigating customer service. This is the first time someone’s gone to sleep on me by phone. When I called back to speak with a call center supervisor, I was told they’re based in the Philippines, so it was an early morning hour there.

Another recent discovery is diy.despair.com where one can create custom parodies of motivational posters. The photo above, taken of the kids years ago as a joke, finally came in handy.